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| Nom Nom Nom |
Frankly, when the Longhorn’s football season is over each year, I try to step back and get a little distance. I throw myself into work - or, at least - resume working on Fridays. I try to hang out with friends, since my social life in Dallas deteriorates when I’m out of town each weekend for games. I try to be a normal human, operating on a reasonable emotional slide rule, not racked by the high-highs and low-lows that each season inevitably drags me through. January always feels like a football-season-hangover.
So signing day, sitting right there at the beginning of February, feels a little too much like the greasy sausage McMuffin & Gatorade I’ve been needing to make that hangover go away.
So signing day, sitting right there at the beginning of February, feels a little too much like the greasy sausage McMuffin & Gatorade I’ve been needing to make that hangover go away.
I would feel I had neglected my Football Girl Adventuring duties if I didn’t make comment on The University of Texas’ 2012 recruiting class:
THE OUTSIDERS
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| It's not too bad to be an outsider, just ask of the many famous movie alums! |
Brandon Moore, one of our two JC recruits comes to us from the great houndstooth of Alabama, via East Mississippi Community College. I will take a six-foot-five, 335 pound Defensive Tackle any day.
Connor Brewer, from my high school alma mater’s rival Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, Arizona joins the Texas quarterback core. Hell, why not?! Leader of three Arizona State Championship Teams? Yes please! Also, he feeds the homeless. Just sayin’.
Shiro Davis follows my all-time favorite Texas player, Major Applewhite, from Louisiana. This Defensive End with a 34 inch vertical jump logged 85 tackles his senior year. Shiro made waves on signing day when he chose to bleed orange rather than tiger it up to previous commitment LSU.
Donald Hawkins comes to us from Northwest Community College, this 2011 JC First Team All-American joins the O-Line. Thank you, Mississippi! I think all of our quarterbacks will appreciate a six-foot-five, 310 pound protection after the snap.
THE POSSIBLY (OR NOT) RELATED
It’s kind of a Peyton Manning/Walter Payton situation…but Texas is well known for it’s band of brothers (ie, Shipleys, Pittmans, McCoys, Cashes, Achos, Diggs/Jammers, Griffins…do I need to go on?) Here you can find new recruits that like to keep it in the family. Or, have the same names as people already on the team!
Curtis Riser, Offensive Lineman from Desoto High School is an All-American, All-Sate, two time All-Area and three time All-District player and sixth ranked EPNU offensive guard. He graded at a 98%, allowing just three sacks in his final three seasons. Curtis, a youth basketball volunteer will join cousins Steven and Aspen at The University of Texas.
Timothy Cole, Linebacker, also from Brenham, is related to Texas All-American Running back Roosevelt Leaks (Yay!) and A&M QB Jerrod Johnson (Boo!). 184 career tackles…good. Five fumble recoveries? Ok! Six-foot-two, 230 pounds of Prep All-American? I think so…
Kevin Vaccaro. I’m ashamed I spent a few seconds longer than I should have working out in my head that Kevin is not actually Kenny Vaccaro, 2011 Longhorn standout to whom the BIG XII referees still owe a big ’ol “sorry.” While Hallmark works on a card for that, little bro Kevin joins the Texas Defensive Backs out of Brownwood, where he played as a safety, cornerback and running back. All in the family bonus? His coach back at Brownwood HS was Bob Shipley.
Kendall Sanders…not related to Deion. Who cares?! In two seasons at Athens High School, he had 58 receptions for 1,310 yards & 15 touchdowns. Did I mention he also rushed for 1,069 yards & 13 touchdowns? Or that in one game he rushed for 230 yards, including a 99 yard touchdown. I like it when our guys can run 99 yards in a row without passing out. This All-Henderson County Sophomore of the year was ranked the 13th best cornerback by ESPNU. And he’s ours!
THE EARLY BIRDS
Along with previously recruits Connor Brewer, Donald Hawkins & Brandon Moore, these early enrollees will be on the field for spring practice this year. I think it’s fabulous that we’ll have a chance to knock ‘em around a bit before the brutal summer practices drain them of their love of the game.
Duke Thomas, Cornerback out of Killeen brings an impressive resume of 2,520 rushing and 1,700 passing yards in his junior and senior year at Copperas Cove High School…all in between lettering in track, baseball and basketball. No big deal. Also he was a three-time academic all-district honoree. Gee, couldn’t we have found someone a little more well rounded?
Camrhon Hughes, Prep All-American Left Tackle & Tight End brings his talents to the Texas Offensive Line. Did you know he had 56 pancakes? Also did you know that a pancake is some kind of football stat, not a food? I didn’t. He had me at “I’m a military brat,” “I play the saxaphone” and “I read to kids in my spare time.”
Alex De La Torre, Linebacker from Ryan High School in Denton, rounds out our early birds list. In the spring, look out for this impressive player who rocked 385 tackles (64 TFL’s) 20 sacks, five forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries, four interceptions and four touchdowns as a three year starter.
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| It's So Beautiful! What Does It Mean?! |
Caleb Bluiett, a Defensive End out of Beaumont, Texas lettered for three years at West Brook High School at multiple positions. I particularly enjoy that he returned five kicks for 95 yards. I don’t know if that means 95 total yards or five 95 yard returns, but either way, I’m a fan.
Malcom Brown (no…not that one) out of Brenham, Texas brings his talents as a DT to Austin. Now Texas has Malcom Browns on both sides of the ball…and from what I understand MB2 has not had any recent bouts with turf toe…
Johnathan Gray, Aledo High School in Aledo, Texas....well, look, if you don’t know who Johnathan Gray is, just Google him. You’ll see phrases like “second overall prospect” and “ranked as top running back.” Also, if you don’t know who Johnathan Gray is, you’re likely part of the roughly 86% of my readers who came upon this blog through a Google search involving “gremlins” of some variety*. It’s cool. Keep reading. Get hooked.
OKLAHOMA, TEXAS’ HAT
These players got lumped together because of their ties to Oklahoma. I’ll try not to hold the decisions of their family against them, as they chose to be Longhorns sooner (get it! Sooner?!) rather than later.
Bryson Echols, ranked the sixth best cornerback prospect by ESPN hails from Desoto, Texas. We’re glad he didn’t follow his cousin, wide receiver Bruce Hatton to Southwestern Oklahoma State. Frankly, why would he? This five-foot-ten, 165 pound sweetheart volunteers at the Special Olympics…when he’s not racking up starting statistics like 128 tackles, nine interceptions and three fumble recoveries, or lettering in Soccer and Track & Field.
Nick Jordan, a kicker out of Coppell, Texas was only ranked the 4th best kicker by ESPN. No big deal. It’s not like he converts over 75% of his field goals, all from 30+ yards. Though he may not be a big hitter like cousins, both named Daniel who played baseball at are gymnasts at OU, I’ll take a golden shoe any day.
Alex Norman. Okay, it’s not his fault that his last name is Norman. As in Norman, Oklahoma…home of the Sooners. It is his fault that this Bishop Dunne Defensive Tackle out of Dallas was an ESPN Top 100 recruit. It’s also his fault that he laid down 56 tackles (29 tackles for loss) seven sacks, a blocked punt and a blocked field goal…his senior year!
Peter Jinkens actually doesn’t have anything to do with Oklahoma. Because he’s awesome. But he is from Dallas, where Oklahoma plays Texas every year at the Texas State Fair. Skyline High Schoolers got to witness this Linebacker rack up 125 tackles, nine sacks, four forced fumbles, three fumble recovers and a touchdown his senior year.
OIL, THAT IS…TEXAS TEA
These new Longhorns come to us bearing oil-ish hometowns or other vague connections to the riggs. And I mean vague...
Dalton Santos is a linebacker out of Van, Texas…the self proclaimed small town with a big heart. This East Texas town (which boasts an annual Oil Festival) watched as all six-foot-three, 250 pounds of Dalton laid out 339 tackles, 36 TFL, 12 sacks, four forced fumbles and three INTs in his final three seasons. And he lettered in track and field.
Adrian Colbert, from Mineral Wells High School (oil is a mineral…right? Harvested from wells…? Are you getting on board?) is a six-foot-two defensive back. Weighing in at 191 pounds, this Salvation Army volunteer compiled 228 tackles, seven INTs, two sacks, 17 PBUs, four forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, one FG block and four TDs on defense ...tallied 580 rushing yards and 10 TDs and 28 catches for 580 yards and six TDs on offense...all in his three years as a starter. What's not to be excited about with this versitile young man?
Paul Boyette, Jr. out of Humble, Texas. Two of his uncles, Ernie Ladd and Garland Boyette played in the NFL for the Houston Oilers. Oil connections aside, Paul clocked 172 tackles, 43 TFL, 15 sacks and one INT in four seasons. This six-foot-four, 295 pound Defensive Tackle must dwarf his fellow basketball letterman...and those little leaguers he coaches...
THE HOMER
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| Probably these signees were born the same year Matthew noted that "I get older and they stay the same age..." in Dazed and Confused. Filmed in...AUSTIN! |
This year we have only one Austinite to add to our roster. Every freshman class needs someone who knows where all the high school girls hang out…let’s hope this lone 2012 signing day Austinite is ready to be that hero…
Cyleb Jones, out of Austin High School in...Austin, TX, is a three-time all-state, three-time all-area and three-time all-district performer at wide receiver. Hi Cyleb. Make yourself right at home-WAIT! You are home! Home, where he yoinked out 213 receptions for 3,025 yards and 27 TDs in his career! Only the 21st best WR in the country. No bid deal...except it is!
AND WHAT, EXACTLY, IS A VIADUCT?
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| Don't be sad, roadway group! This lendary Texas quarterback would have been in your category! |
While visiting Nebraska, we were given directions several times that involved a “viaduct”. It took actually seeing a viaduct to realize it’s really just a fancy word for “Overpass.” In honor of fancy road pieces, I’ve paired up this recruiting duo because their names sound like something you can drive on.
Hassan Ridgeway, originally from California, got to Texas as fast as he could. This six-foot-four, 255 pound defensive end out of Mainsfield High School in Mainsfeild, Texas was the 20th ranked DE this year. He totaled 57 tackles, 7.5 sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery his senior year while also lettering in basketball.
Maybe these new signees aren't ready to dig up the Reville graveyard over at A&M a la Tom Hanks, but hopefully they're ready to make magic happen on the field. Our next grouping involves players who hail from the outskirts of the city...
Marcus Johnson, League City, Texas (Clear Springs High School) outside of Houston had 110 catches for 2,051 yards and 21 TDs while rushing for 379 yards and one TD in last three seasons as a wide receiver. No big deal, but he also also returned 10 kickoffs for 375 yards and two TDs.
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| When his Tom Hanks classic came out in '89, most of our signing class was...not born for 5 more years... |
Marcus Johnson, League City, Texas (Clear Springs High School) outside of Houston had 110 catches for 2,051 yards and 21 TDs while rushing for 379 yards and one TD in last three seasons as a wide receiver. No big deal, but he also also returned 10 kickoffs for 375 yards and two TDs.
Bryce Cottrell from Plano West High School, in Plano, Texas (a Dallas suburb) was an All-state two-time first-team all-district player at linebacker and defensive end ...ok! He also played safety, and in his final three seasons had 198 tackles, 10 sacks, seven PBUs, three fumble recoveries, one forced fumble and one INT. Also he runs a 10.9 100 meter. That's about 1000 times faster than me.
Kennedy Estelle and his six-feet-seven-inches, 300 pounds of Offensive Lineman, comes from Pearland, Texas on the outskirts of Houston. At Dawson High, his feats ranked him as the 7th best Offensive Tackle by ESPNU. His senior year O-Line averaged 411.8 yards of total offense per game (210.8 rushing / 201.0 passing).
Daje Johnson from Hendrickson High School in Pflugerville, a Northern suburb of Austin, clearly knows that Texas is better than K-State (where dad Clyde played before heading to play for the KC Cheifs). Which is why he signed with the Longhorns, bringing with him his title of ESPNU's 14 best athlete. Excellent. His position with Texas is currently listed as "Athlete," possibly because he's so versitle...I mean, his senior year he rushed for 2,178 yards and 26 TDs on 249 carries (8.7 ypc), while catching 28 passes for 496 yards (17.7 ypr) and six TDs with one punt return TD. That's a lot of stats. I like stats.
I realize that my signees groupings are...unorthodox. But it's my blog and I break down the class however I want to....So, yes, yes….I know you know more about all these guys, and how we got them and why we got them and who they are and what holes they will fill and why they are great than I do. No need to email me to let me know.
Who knows...someday these groupings may produce a handy fact for you to spout out at the perfect moment!
* So...Blogspot allows me to look at statistics on my blog. I was very impressed with myself when I saw how many hits I had acquired! I thought: "I am an amazing, entertaining and popular blogger!" Unfortunately, Blogspot will also tell me recent Google searches that brought people to my page. After browsing these I thought: "I am merely a stepping stone for Gremlin lovers and people searching for weird stuff. That must mean I am weird." So for you, Reader, I present:
Top Google Searches That Led You To Adventures of a Football Girl!
Top Google Searches That Led You To Adventures of a Football Girl!
archie manning height
eli manning drunk
football locker rooms
gremlins girl
llama feet
lama foot
llama giraffe sheep
picture of a llama animal
the gremlins
cute llama pictures
gizmo mogwai
mogwai gizmo
eli peyton archie caricature
longhorn football girl
gremlin rules
eli manning cute
adventures of a football gir
adventures of a texas football girl
pics of major applewhite
picture of a llama animal
We got pretty close on a few there....yet so far away. Damn the electric fence!!
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